AWS | May 11, 2020
Amazon Web Services (AWS) and SXSW EDU collaborate to issue a challenge, the edtech world.
Blast Learning helps students remember information they learned, while identifying and filling in knowledge gaps.
Edtech companies across the U.S. submitted innovative ideas to bolster student learning, teacher productivity, accessibility and the home-school connection.
When Amazon Web Services (AWS) and SXSW EDU collaborate to issue a challenge, the edtech world answers. In July 2019, the Amazon Alexa EdTech Skills Challenge gave developers a chance to make cutting-edge Alexa skills for creative educational improvements. Edtech companies across the U.S. submitted innovative ideas to bolster student learning, teacher productivity, accessibility and the home-school connection. The winners for this competition will be decided in two parts: the Judge’s Choice award and the People’s Choice award.
An expert panel of judges has already narrowed down the competition to six finalists, based on each skill’s innovation, impact, usability and stickiness factor. One finalist from this group—Blast Learning, Healthy Teen Network, NuMoola, SayKid, StrongMind or VOGO Voice—will win the Judge’s Choice award, receiving $50,000 in AWS Promotional Credit to help bring their next big idea to life. Voting is now open for the People’s Choice award, where the winner will receive $25,000 in AWS Promotional Credit. Cast your vote by May 15, 2020 to be eligible to win an Amazon Echo Show (2nd Gen).
Learn more: HOW THE REMOTE LEARNING PIVOT COULD SHAPE HIGHER ED IT .
“Blast Learning Alexa skill quizzes students in a way that helps them ace the test on a current unit and then continues to periodically quiz them on the material until the knowledge and skills become durable”.
~ Bruce Lewolt, Founder Blast Learning.
Blast Learning helps students remember information they learned, while identifying and filling in knowledge gaps. Leveraging research on how to accelerate long-term memory formation, “the Blast Learning Alexa skill quizzes students in a way that helps them ace the test on a current unit and then continues to periodically quiz them on the material until the knowledge and skills become durable. Along the way, when a learning gap is discovered, the skill re-teaches that information and provides additional reinforcement,” explains Bruce Lewolt, Founder of Blast Learning.
“When Blast asks a question that the learner can’t answer, the concept is retaught before engaging in memory enhancing activities. Blast adapts to each learner’s unique set of gaps as well as their unique forgetting curve,”.
“When Blast asks a question that the learner can’t answer, the concept is retaught before engaging in memory enhancing activities. Blast adapts to each learner’s unique set of gaps as well as their unique forgetting curve,” he adds. We know that studying effectively requires focused, dedicated time and consistency. Voice technology provides students flexible and easier access to studying through portable devices or smartphones and does not require sitting in a fixed location. Learners can use this skill to study even while they exercise, which has been shown to supercharge the brain for learning, Lewolt described. “Imagine being able to jog and study at the same time. Now, imagine how good it would feel to know that jogging is a force multiplier for your studying!”
With a product backed by neuroscience and learning research, the folks at Blast Learning are excited to continue supporting all kinds of learners in academic and professional contexts. “Blast Learning can look across the study requirements for all of a student’s courses and build a prioritized, personalized study schedule across all subjects,” Lewolt says. “Since Blast remembers everything a student has ever studied and learns the best way for that student to study, the intelligent application becomes a lifetime learning resource for students.”
Learn more:
WILL AI REPLACE OUR KIDS' TEACHERS OR WAY OF LEARNING?
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ONLINE EDUCATION
Tutor.com | November 10, 2021
Tutor.com, one of the world's largest online tutoring services, announced that StraighterLine, a pioneering online higher education course provider, has selected Tutor.com to provide online tutoring services for the thousands of students StraighterLine serves each year.
Through the partnership, students gain 24/7 no-cost access to 1-to-1 expert tutoring and drop-off review services for StraighterLine courses. The goal: Help higher education students earn affordable college credits—and graduate from one of the 1,500+ colleges and universities that have accepted StraighterLine courses.
The synergy of the two companies' missions—Tutor.com helps students persist and graduate; StraighterLine ensures they can earn college degrees affordably—promises to broaden access to higher education. Tutor.com, which has delivered more than 21 million tutoring sessions in its 21 years, has been shown in independent efficacy studies to increase student pass and persistence rates. StraighterLine, a pioneer in non-traditional pathways to college credit since 2008, has been shown to help colleges increase yield and persistence while helping students lower the cost and risk of starting a degree.
"We have proven that higher education can be affordable for everyone," said Burck Smith, co-founder of StraighterLine and other education technology companies. "In partnering with Tutor.com, we want ensure that students have the resources they need to thrive in their courses so they can achieve their higher education goals."
Many of StraighterLine's partner colleges are also partners of Tutor.com. For instance, StraighterLine partner American Public University System has been a partner of Tutor.com for nearly a decade. The mutual collaboration streamlines academic support for students. One APUS student who recently utilized the service wrote in a post-session survey: "Other sites give answers. This service gives a solution for working through to the answer."
"We share an ethos with StraighterLine—we are both dedicated to meeting students where they are. At Tutor.com, we have built a resilient academic support model geared toward making higher education accessible for all students, and we are thrilled to partner with StraighterLine to deliver student-centered support."
Sandi White, Senior Vice President, Institutional, Tutor.com
The partnership also enables staff at StraighterLine to access real-time data and analytics through Tutor.com's Client Portal, a dashboard providing information about tutoring session activity. There, they can get actionable data to address curricular challenges and provide just-in-time support for students who need it—ensuring the momentum of the StraighterLine–Tutor.com student success cycle.
About StraighterLine
StraighterLine is a student success company and the category creator for providing scalable solutions to deliver affordable, effective and accelerated learning pathways to formal degree programs and widely recognized industry credentials. The StraighterLine platform supports over 40,000 new students a year, including directly through the straighterline.com website as well as through the company's growing network of university and employer relationships.
About Tutor.com
Since its incorporation in 2000, Tutor.com has delivered more than 21 million one-to-one online tutoring and homework help sessions to students. The company's more than 3,000 vetted and qualified tutors provide learning assistance that is available 24/7 in a wide variety of subjects. The company's mission is to instill hope, advance equity, and catalyze achievement in schools and communities. Tutor.com powers tutoring and homework help programs for the U.S. Department of Defense, Coast Guard Mutual Assistance Program, colleges and universities, K–12 school districts, state and local libraries, and companies offering employee benefit programs. Headquartered in New York City, Tutor.com is an affiliate of The Princeton Review, an education services company not affiliated with Princeton University.
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ONLINE EDUCATION
Emile Learning | September 03, 2021
Emile Learning, an LA-based education company working to build the 'Netflix of High School', is offering free student access for the month of September.
"We threw all our energy this past year into innovating with this generation of young people in mind," said President and Co-Founder Michael Vilardo. "We think students who try out our product will fall in love with the approach, so much so that they'll continue with Emile well beyond September."
Emile currently offers 20+ AP, Core, and Experiential courses for high schoolers. With September's free access, students will have unlimited access to Emile's entire course library through September 30, 2021. Courses include: AP Computer Science, Introduction to Computer Science, AP Psychology, AP English Language and Literature, AP Chemistry, AP Calculus, Algebra 2, AP World History, Acting, Financial Literacy, and several others.
Emile Learning was founded in October 2020 by CEO Felix Ruano, Harvard University/McKinsey & Co. alum, Vilardo, University of Pennsylvannia/Nike/Uber alum, and CTO Jon Quiros, Dun & Bradstreet and Cal Poly Pomona alum.
"We have all seen the impact of TikTok, Netflix, Instagram on Gen-Z attention spans. These companies continue to innovate to stay relevant. Unfortunately, we have not seen that kind of approach in education. Emile is here to change that," said Ruano.
Emile's short-form courses are designed to promote engagement in a digital landscape where scrolling is the norm. By taking best practices from leading consumer technologies and social platforms, Emile is innovating to meet high school students' evolving learning strategies and needs.
Highly-engaging teachers pulled from students' favorite social channels present short-form video content, anchored to key concepts. Quizzes and study-guides reinforce learning. Access to a large online community and a roster of seasoned teachers increases interactivity and feedback. Finally, high schoolers have the option to take the courses purely for enrichment (e.g., to help supplement existing high school coursework) or for transcript-level credit.
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